Nothing in the universe can stop you
from letting go and starting over …

≤

Let go!

The Secret of Letting Go is a rare and welcome book—
one that offers real solutions to real problems. And what
wonderful solutions they are! They are not the standard, meaningless answers one usually hears … this book
makes it clear that the only way to solve any difficulty is
to no longer live in its level at all. The pained individual
must transcend the self that we now know—the one
that created the problem in the first place.
This is exactly the kind of book that is needed today.
From international incidents, through environmental
changes, right down to that disturbing fight we had
with the person we live with, people feel that they and
their lives are out of control. Fortunately, this book
offers immediate help. There is only one thing we can,
or need, to control: our own reactions. And the way to
control our reactions is to let go.

dr. ellen b. dickstein

The healing facts presented in this book have rescued
me from more self-defeating pursuits and habits than I
care to mention.
This book is filled with the right tools for transforming troubles into triumphs. Guy Finley takes the wisdom of the ages and uses it to gently coach his readers
to heal the places in their own minds where psychological problems originate.
This book will help you if you are willing to follow
the instructions.
You will discover that you need not be dependent on
anyone or anything for happiness; that all psychological
stress—anger, depression, anxiety—is born out of a lack
of understanding. Guy Finley’s book is a very powerful
and yet cheerful and lighthearted lesson in learning to
let go of who you think you are.

desi arnaz, jr.

Best-selling “letting go” author Guy Finley’s encouraging and
accessible message is one of the true bright lights in our world
today. His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most pressing
personal and social issues—relationships, success, addiction,
stress, peace, happiness, freedom—and lead the way to a higher
life. Barnes and Noble says: “Guy Finley has helped millions live
fuller, more peaceable lives.”
Finley is the acclaimed author of The Secret of Letting Go and
more than thirty other books and audio programs on the subject
of self-realization, several of which have become international
bestsellers. In addition, he has presented over three thousand
unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students
throughout North America and Europe over the past twentyfive years. Each week, 400,000 subscribers in 142 countries read
his popular Key Lesson e-mail newsletters.
His popular works, published in sixteen languages, are widely
endorsed by doctors, professionals, and religious leaders of all
denominations. Among many others, his titles include Design
Your Destiny, The Lost Secrets of Prayer, Apprentice of the Heart, Let
Go and Live in the Now, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living, Secrets
of Being Unstoppable, and 365 Ways to Let Go.
Guy has been a guest on hundreds of television and radio
shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS,
CNN, and NPR, and he is currently syndicated on several
international radio networks, including Healthylife Radio Network, Achieve Radio Network, WorldTalkRadio Network, and
Contact Talk Radio International.
In addition to his writing and appearance schedule, Guy is the
founding director of Life of Learning Foundation, the renowned
nonprofit center for self-study in Merlin, Oregon, where he presents four self-realization classes each week. These meetings are
ongoing, open to the public, and offered for a suggested donation of three dollars.

second edition
First Printing, 2007
The first edition of The Secret of Letting Go has been printed twenty-two times
since its first printing in 1990, and more than 200,000 copies have been sold.
Book design by Rebecca Zins
Cover design by Lisa Novak
Llewellyn is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Finley, Guy, 1949The secret of letting go / by Guy Finley. — Rev. and expanded.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1198-0
1. Self-actualization (Psychology) 2. Success—Psychological aspects.
3. Happiness. I. Title.
BF637.S4F56 2007
158.1—dc22
2007018851
Llewellyn Worldwide does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.
All mail addressed to the author is forwarded but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number.
Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but
the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained.
Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources.

In Appreciation
To those men and women who have gone before us in
search of the Kingdom and by whose works we, who
also aspire to awaken, are now guided … thank you.

Contents

Letting Go: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow xix

How This Book Can Help You Let Go xxv

1 Let Go and Grow Happy, 1

This Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Letting Go 7

The Greatest Secret on Earth 10

Be Stronger Than Anything That Frightens You 13

The Sure Way to Raise Your Life-Level 17

Go Ahead and Let Go of Yourself 21

The Secret of Effortless Happiness 25

Ten Steps to Take to the Truly New Life 27

2 Your True Nature Is High, 29

Choose in Favor of Your True Self 32

You Are Not Who You Think You Are 35

A Case of Mistaken Identity 38

The Strange Non-Life of the False Self 40

Start Seeing Through the Blame Game 42

For True Self-Command, Just Stop, Look, and Listen 44

Let Go and Realize Real Rescue 46

Two Worlds, Two Natures, Two Selves 48

3 How to Defeat What’s Defeating You, 53

Snap Yourself Out of Psychic Slumber 55

How to Break Free of Unhappy Thoughts and Feelings 57
Five Great Illusions Keeping You from Letting Go 59

Give Your Life Story a Happy Ending 61

Higher Awareness Through Self-Observation 63

Inner Work Rewards the Inner You 66

Self-Correction Is Self-Elevation 68

The Power That Defeats Defeat 71

Questions for Self-Wholeness 74

Put Yourself in the Driver’s Seat 75

Know the Pleasure of Your True Nature 77

4 Lift Yourself into a Brand-New World, 81

Your Secret Power of Self-Disconnect 83

Seven Ways to Increase Your Spiritual Strength 85

How to Let Go of Helpless Feelings 86

A Technique That Makes Fear Fade 88

Let Go of Loneliness and Discontentment 92

A Secret Strength Greater Than Any Sorrow 96

How to Change the Life You’re Giving Yourself 100

Five Exciting New Answers, Actions, and Results 103

The Secret of Permanent Pleasure 106

contents


5 Letting Go into the Power Flow, 111

The Sure Cure for Whatever Disturbs You 115

Let Go of the Fear of Being No One 120

How to Let Your Worries Roll By 124

Never Feel Trapped by Life Again 125

The Best-Kept Secret in the World 127

Don’t Miss This Life-Changing Moment 132

The Secret of Having Everything You Want 137

6 Break Through to a Totally New You, 143

Let Higher Facts Free You from a Painful Past 144

You Are So Much More Than You Can Think 147

Drop Angry and Anxious Feelings Instantly 151

Giving Yourself Up Is Lifting Yourself Up 154

How to Live Life on Your Own Terms 156

Special Study Section for Lasting Self-Possession 161

Six Responses to Free You from False Relationships 163
Ask Yourself This Question and Escape to Freedom 164

Step Up and Away from Punishing Feelings 167

Make It All the Way Home to Your True Self 170

contents


7 Let Go and Let Higher Life Forces
Succeed for You, 177

Crash Through These Self-Confining Thoughts 180

Let the World Inside of You Go By 182

This Higher Instruction Will Take You Beyond Yourself 185
A Special Summary to Help Shatter Self-Limitation 189

Detect and Reject Psychic Intruders 190

The Return of the Absent Nobleman 192

How to Distinguish Invited Guests
from Unwanted Intruders 195

Experience the Miracle of Self-Completion 197

The Way Out Is Safe 201

Assurances for Travelers on the Way 206

The Ten Traits of the True Spiritual Warrior 207

8 Dare to Let Go and Live as You Please, 211

Your Ultimate Victory over Harmful Inner Voices 214

Clear This Obstacle and Climb to True Independence 216

Start Soaring above Yourself 220

Higher Hints for Taking Charge of Yourself 223

Let Go of These Secret Life-Draining Demands 224

Freedom to Answer the World the Way You Want 226

Walk Lightly Through Life 229

Keys for Living Lightly 235

contents


9 Contact with the Secret Self, 237
You Can Reach Whatever You Are Willing to Receive 240

Hearing the Song of the Secret Self 243

The Kingdom of the Secret Self 246

This Brand-New Action Leads to the Wonderful Way 253

The Bill of Lights 259

Follow These Fifty Secrets All the Way Home 261

A Special Message from Vernon Howard 269

contents


Letting Go:
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Nearly eighteen years have passed since my teacher, a wise
and wonderful man—“VH” as he was called by his inner
circle of students—suggested that I write a book. Little did
I know what he was really asking of me, but for his gesture I
am forever in his debt.
At the time, Vernon Howard was the quietly respected,
much-revered author of more than twenty-five wonderful
spiritual books. To have his continual encouragement and
no-nonsense editorial comments on my initial writings was
priceless. And so it was that about a year and a half later, in
1990, my good friends at Llewellyn published the first version
of The Secret of Letting Go. In your hands is the new edition
of that work.
Over these many years since I started writing about the
unlimited life inherent in letting go, thousands of grateful
readers from all around the world have shared with me—in
one way or another—the fruit of their discoveries along the
way. Let me summarize these special impressions for you.
In varying degrees, each has realized that letting go and
spiritual growth are as rain is to a field of wildflowers; that we



blossom as beings only as we release ourselves from what is
self-limiting. But why do this kind of work within ourselves?
Even though it’s obvious, it needs to be stated: we struggle
with whatever we do—with whatever personally compromises us or our contentment in life—so that we might realize
a greater measure of freedom. Seen in this light, we can say
that letting go is really an act of love. Let’s look at this surprising idea for a moment.
Each time we see the need to let go of something—a bad
habit that drags us down, an unsatisfactory relationship, a
career choice that can’t complete us in the way we dreamed
it would, or maybe unrealistic expectations we have about
others that eventually spoil our partnerships with them—
whatever it may be: what is it that’s actually happened in
these moments of honest self-examination? See if this simple
answer doesn’t describe our situation.
Aren’t we being “asked” to give up an existing relationship
in order to make room in our lives for something higher? Of
course we are. Then why is it so hard to act on our intuition?
After all, who doesn’t want a life that’s better, brighter, and
truer? Here’s why we hesitate to make this exchange, as so
many of us do: the real challenge in such moments is that
what we must choose in favor of can’t be seen by our physical
eyes! Can we see the truth of this, no pun intended?
Inherent in any true spiritual surrender is this one inescapable fact: we can’t hope to realize the actual nature of that
new and greater relationship we seek until we have released the
old one. St. Paul, author of numerous New Testament accounts,
letting go


best describes what is, ultimately, an indescribable moment:
“Our faith must be in things unseen, and not in things seen;
for who hopes for things (already) seen?”
When it comes to letting go and growing beyond who and
what we have been up until that time, the deal is non-negotiable: first comes our gradual awakening to what no longer
works for us, followed by the inner work to release the same.
Then, and only then, dawns the discovery and realization of
what is—in all cases—a new and higher order of our self; our
life is transformed. Confidence, contentment, and compassion
become our constant companions.
To the point: letting go follows our realization that holding
on is of no further use! In one way or another, we start seeing how all of our old tried-and-true solutions have proven
themselves to be “false friends.” A few examples will shed
light on this last important idea.
For instance, it’s become clear that blaming others for our
painful reactions has proven worse than useless; that answer
has turned some of our friends into enemies!
Instead of delighting us as they always did in the past, our
newest schemes and dreams only taunt us with their emptiness; we’re tired of running nowhere fast.
Whether wanted or not, we stand at the threshold of that
unfamiliar and innermost territory called the “dark night
of the soul” by St. John of the Cross; we now know that of
ourselves we can do no more for ourselves. And so we wait
there in our uncertainty, caught, as it were, between two possibilities, neither of which is wanted. In one hand, there is the
letting go


“rock” of not wanting to go through what we know must be
done; in the other is “the hard place” of seeing that no other
options are available. Our one great fear is that if we do let
go, our fate is sealed. We will fall into that dark, yawning abyss
before us called “not knowing what will become of us”—a
forbidding place from which we believe there may be no
escape! But this is a false assumption based upon an equally
false perception. It’s a lie produced by the false self to keep us
from answering the call to leave it behind. Here is the truth
of the matter, which you will know from yourself each time
you dare to let go:You do not fall. Instead, you rise!
How is that possible?
Ask yourself what happens to a kite when its string is cut.
Up it goes! It climbs into the open skies above it because
that’s its nature; it was made to rise. So are we: we are made to
be free. Anything less is just that: not enough!
After nearly twenty-five years of writing and teaching, if
I have learned one thing, it is this: we each have—right here,
right now—everything we need to succeed with finding the
lasting wholeness and happiness for which our heart of hearts
seeks. Our problem is that we’re sure we have to do something to be free. Strangely enough, the only thing between us
and a life without limits is this mistaken idea.
The spiritual work of letting go and of growing into our
native holiness is unlike any other kind of effort we will ever
have to make. It starts with embracing—and then daring to
act upon—the understanding that nothing can be added to
our True Self. Just think for a moment what such knowledge
letting go


could mean to us if we were to take the trouble to make it
our own.
For instance, rather than spend our time struggling in vain
to make others into what we want them to be, we would be
able to see the inherent flaw in this kind of thinking. Then,
rather than trying to change others to suit our needs, our
choice would be to simply drop this false idea that someone
else is responsible for our fulfillment.
Freedom from the burden of false responsibilities … real
reconciliation with lovers, friends, and family … the grace to
forgive old foes completely … a growing sense of a loving and
compassionate intelligence unbound by passing time: these
gifts and more come to those who learn to let go.
So, this is what I have learned: the missing half of our lives
is letting go. Make this spiritual discovery and be fulfilled; be
fulfilled without effort, and be free. Breathing in would be
worthless without its opposite of exhaling; think of letting go
as learning to take part in the breath of life itself, something
that is as natural to who you truly are as it is for the sun to
shine.
In this revised version of Letting Go, I have added several
new sections that reflect this continually dawning revelation
of our right to let go and live free. In many areas, the book
has been given a spring cleaning—refreshed, if you will—by
revisiting ideas with new insights gained over the many years
since first “penning” this material.
To my “old” and new readers alike—to those of you past,
present, and future who long to know higher love and live
letting go


harmlessly within yourselves and upon our planet alike—be
encouraged: the divine intelligence that seeded within you
the wish to realize a free, holy, fearless life will see to its flowering, providing you nourish this same wish with all your
heart, mind, and soul.
Let me give you one last truth to take with you on this
great life journey called letting go. In my times of need, its
light has proven itself a friend more often than can be said.
May it do the same for you.
Our greatest strength isn’t our ability to imagine brighter days
ahead, it is that we are empowered—in every present moment—to
effortlessly dismiss any dark thought or feeling that, left unattended,
diminishes our happiness.

letting go


How This Book
Can Help You Let Go
A young boy was about to take his first lesson in water-skiing.
He was bobbing up and down in the water, ski tops pointed
up and forward. His father was in the speedboat, calling out
some last-minute instructions.Then, with a roar, the boat took
off. The tow rope went taut.
At first it didn’t look like the young boy would make it up.
But slowly, like some kind of glistening phoenix, he emerged
from the water. He was up. He was smiling. Then, in almost
the reverse motion of how the boy had risen above the water,
he disappeared back into it. It wasn’t a bad spill.
The speedboat raced back around to pick him up. His
father waited and watched to see his small head pop up above
the waves set off by his first nosedive, but the boy didn’t
appear. He was still holding on to the tow rope! He was being
dragged behind the very boat that was trying to speed to his
rescue. Assessing the situation in a glance, his father immediately cut the engine. A second later, the young boy’s soaked
but smiling face raised itself out of the water and looked up
to his father for the next instruction. His father smiled back



and said, “Son, I forgot to tell you one very important point
about water-skiing. When you fall, you must remember to let
go of the rope!” They both laughed out loud at this lighthearted lesson because the need to let go was so obvious.
I remember this incident well because of the long-lasting
impression it formed in me. I know that the reason why this
young boy didn’t let go of the tow rope wasn’t that he wanted to hold on to it. No, he held on because he didn’t know
what else to do during those frightening moments he was
being dragged through the water. For him, the thought of
letting go wasn’t an option at that moment. Instead, his mind
was completely crowded with other competing thoughts and
feelings: “I hope no one else saw me make a fool of myself!
What could have gone wrong? Is Dad gonna be mad at me?
Will he let me try again? How could I be so stupid?” The
instinctive and naturally intelligent thought that was telling
him to let go couldn’t get through all of this inner clamor.
It was being blocked by a flood of misplaced and dangerous false self-concern. The reason I can report this event and
its details with such certainty is that I was the young boy in
the story, the boy who didn’t let go. It was the first of many
lessons in my own life about secret and self-defeating inner
forces that make a person hold on to something that he’d be
better off letting go of.
That’s what this book is all about: letting go—letting go of
everything that drags us through unpleasant relationships and
events; letting go of those painful thoughts and feelings that
sink our spirits with weary, false self-concerns.
how this book can help you let go


At first, you may find some of this new material strange
and unsettling, for it is filled with surprising and higher
insights that show you where you have been clinging to solutions that don’t work. All of us suffer from holding on to one
sorry situation or another: compromising ourselves to keep
others happy, angry attitudes, wasteful wishes, harmful habits,
just to name a few. But just because you haven’t been able to
let go of these persistent problems doesn’t mean it can’t be
done. All it means is that you haven’t as yet learned the secret
of letting go. Here’s a big hint:
One of the most exciting discoveries you will make as you
read this book is that you don’t need strength to let go of something. All you really need is a new kind of self-understanding,
and that’s how this book will help you accomplish your lifelong dream of being truly strong and independent.
Step by step in helpful dialogs, probing questions and
answers, and simple stories packed with higher facts, you will
learn about a special part of yourself that cannot be dominated or defeated by anything. This True Self—the secret heart
of your soul—always remains open and responsive and never
holds on to any position other than the wish to learn what is
true. This is its power. And this will be your power—in which
dwells an inexhaustible source of intelligence, compassion,
and confidence.
This new relationship with your self will keep you safe and
inspired forever. With each new insight you gain about your
true nature, your life-level automatically rises. To your endless delight, you will discover that each higher view is more
how this book can help you let go


inspiring than the last, and this will encourage you to keep
climbing in order to see more. This magical kind of relationship in life does exist. It’s yours for the asking.You need only
to want it more than you want to remain as you are now.
You can’t imagine what life has in store for you. So, let go!
Above all, this is a bright book. With your permission and
persistence, it will help you to light the inner lamp that leads
to true self-liberation. Of this I have no doubt. Totally free
living is not an ideal; it must be our destination. And that
brings us to my last note.
Nothing can or should ever be measured solely by its parts.
If you were to take a masterpiece painting and concentrate
on only one of its brushstrokes or colors, you would miss not
only seeing the painter’s vision, but sharing in the beauty of
it as well. We all know that the sum of the artist’s canvas is
always greater than its parts; its ability to touch and inspire us
is an indefinable quality at best, a “power” that’s present only
when the whole painting is viewed. The same holds true for
the ideas in this book. Expressed upon its pages are special
glimpses of a new world within you that words can’t convey
because, as true or well-intended as they may be, they are,
nevertheless, only the partial—one frame at a time of a living
film that must be seen in its entirety if its meaning is to be
understood and grasped. That’s why it’s important that you
don’t so much “read” this book as simply allow it to sink in.
Be patient with yourself. Learn to welcome these principles and
insights as the true friends they are; keep them close by your

how this book can help you let go


side. Let their company strengthen you and your wish to be
free.
I want you to know that nothing in the universe can stop you
from letting go and starting over. Nothing.Your True Self can no
more get “stuck” somewhere than a beam of sunlight can be
held down by a shadow. In one way or another, most of us
sense the truth of this ideal; but only a few will dare do the
interior work to realize the power behind it. Here’s encouragement to help you get started: the relationship you long
for—the life of real wisdom, grace, strength, courage, compassion, and love—already lives within you. Now, all that remains
is for you to choose to make this discovery, and just as gentle
spring rains stir the seeds that become beautiful wildflowers,
so will the higher lessons in this book help you to let go and
grow free.

how this book can help you let go


chapter 1

≤
Let Go and Grow Happy
There was once an archaeologist whose entire life’s work had
been the tireless search for an ancient and mysterious temple. Stories passed down through generations of unsuccessful
seekers told of almost unfathomable riches locked within its
buried chambers.Yet no one had ever succeeded in uncovering the great temple and its secret treasures. That’s why, as he
stood there looking into the small, dark, earth-crusted opening in the vine-covered jungle hillside, the archaeologist knew
that he mustn’t let his imagination run wild.
But this had to be it. Everything in him knew it. Countless
years of research pointed the way to this very spot.
Soon the archaeologist had enlarged the overgrown opening enough to crawl through. As he came to his feet, his
pounding heart suddenly came to a dead stop. In the dim,
dust-filled light of his kerosene lantern, he could see, stretching out before him, a large, crude tunnel supported by handhewn timbers. It was obvious others had been there before

him. Questions tumbled through his mind: Who had beaten
him there? Why hadn’t he already heard of its discovery? Had
they plundered the temple’s riches? Could he be mistaken
about this location? But it was his keen eye that quieted his
troubled thoughts.The tunnel ahead of him came to an abrupt
dead end. Perhaps the secrets of the temple were still intact!
Cautious further investigation showed that several chambers
to the left and the right of the tunnel had only been partially
excavated. What was going on? Why had they stopped short?
He had his answer a moment later as he gently leaned
against one of the supporting timbers. He heard a loud
creak, and soon small rocks and choking dust filled the air.
He leaped for the opening, hoping to reach it before he was
closed within forever, but his dive for the light came up short.
To his surprise, it didn’t matter. There was no cave-in, just the
threat of one. He laughed out loud. Here was the reason the
temple had lived on with its treasures unmolested. Over the
centuries, its vaults had filled in with seeping tropical earth,
decaying vegetation, and crumbled rocks too unstable to safely remove. The riches must still be there, if only he could find
a way to reach them.
So, in spite of the obvious dangers, he decided to go ahead
and continue excavating the long-abandoned site.
Over the months and years that followed, the archaeologist worked on, alone and in secret. It was slow going at best.
The little progress he did manage each day had to be shorn
up by an ever-increasing number of heavy support timbers.

let go and grow happy

And, much to his growing dismay, a steadily increasing number of his work hours were spent just holding some of the
older timbers in place. The sound of their almost uncontrollable creaking and sagging never left him alone. Even at night,
outside the dig area and safely by his campfire, he could hear
the timbers moan.
More than anything else, the archaeologist was tired. By
this time, he felt as if he had carried the whole inside of the
mountain out on his back—and in a way, he had. One by
one, he had nearly emptied the temple’s inner chambers of
the roots, rocks, and earth that had filled them; and one by
one, that was all he found within them—roots, rocks, and
earth. He began to despair.
It was late the next afternoon, just before the close of
another hard day of digging, when it started. The archaeologist wasn’t concerned at first. He had already seen this kind
of thing at least a hundred times before. One section of the
post and beam timbers in the center of the excavation site
suddenly started shifting. He ran over to its central set of supports and threw all of his weight against it to help hold it
in place. As he stood there, braced between the earthen wall
and clinging to the support timber, he realized that something beyond his control was starting to happen. He knew
because he could hear it. The creaking beams directly over his
head were not growing any quieter. In fact, like the sympathetic strings of some huge, ancient harp, each set of the massive overhead timbers all the way down the tunnel were now
beginning to quiver and sing out, one by one. It sounded as
let go and grow happy

if the accumulated pressure of a thousand years was about to
break loose.
The archaeologist started running from one set of shuddering posts to another, trying to dampen their accelerating
pitch by using himself as a human brace. No good! Dirt and
dust drifted in the air, making it hard to breathe and even
harder to see. In mounting desperation and running out of
options, he ran back blindly in the direction of the main tunnel. To have any chance of preventing a complete cave-in, he
would need to stop this runaway reaction from overcoming
the central set of supports. Calling on what he knew was the
last of his strength, he threw all of his weight up against one
of the rough-hewn center posts just as it was about to collapse. For the moment, it held. Then the irony of what he
realized might be his last mortal act brought a brief half-smile
to his face. It was funny because he was supposed to be bracing the post, but in his heart he knew if that post weren’t
there to hold him up, he would surely be the one to fall over.
As amused as he was by this thought, he was even more
surprised by another thought that followed on its heels. It
made absolutely no sense. He pushed it away as unthinkable.
But just as his efforts to keep the tunnel’s heavy posts in place
were proving to be in vain, so was he unable to resist this one
strangely persistent thought: “Why not just let go?” it kept
asking.
He wondered if this was what it felt like to be losing his
mind.Yet, as ridiculous as the idea of letting go seemed to be
at that moment, there was something unbelievably compellet go and grow happy

ling about it, so compelling that it almost demanded his complete attention. He felt like a man whose feet had accidentally
stepped down one at a time into two different worlds—two
worlds that were moving further and faster apart with each
passing second. It was very clear that something was about to
give. He fought to hold on to everything he’d always thought
most important, yet it just didn’t seem to matter anymore.
He wished he could understand what was happening in
him, but it was as though the whole concern had been taken
out of his hands. All he could do now was watch his own
mind as it ran this way and that way, busily considering his
options. On one hand, if he were somehow able to hold all
this together and re-stabilize the support system, the only real
certainty to be won for his efforts would be the promise of
another dusty day—most of which would be spent working
to hold everything together. He was so tired of finding one
empty treasure room after another. On the other hand (and
his back stiffened at this thought), if he did let go, it would
mean the end of his life-long work, the end of his hopes and
dreams—maybe even the end of his life!
The sharp crack of an overhead timber near the mouth of
the excavation entrance suddenly resolved the archaeologist’s
inner dispute. It was finished. He knew there was no point
in trying to make it out and no point in trying to hold on.
There was really nothing left to think about. He was glad. His
next act came naturally. He just let go. Everything around him
seemed to be in perfect order as the posts, timbers, and supports all began spilling in on one another. The air became the
let go and grow happy

earth. Standing there, right in the middle of what he thought
was the end of his life, he felt fine—better than he could ever
remember. “How strange,” he thought—and then everything
went dark.
As he lay there, his ears were the first part of him to awaken. At least that is how it seemed. It felt as if they were almost
straining to hear something—but what it was they were listening for, the archaeologist had no idea. Everything was so
wonderfully quiet, and he didn’t want to open his eyes for
fear of disturbing the strange silence.
Another awareness came calling for his attention. Now he
remembered where he was—and what had happened. Somehow he had been spared. A quick sensory check of his body
told him that everything was in place and all right. It was
time to move. He carefully pushed his upper body up and
out of the earth until he was sitting upright. With his eyes still
closed, he shook the dirt out of his hair and prepared himself
to look upon the collapsed and crumbled ruins of his life’s
work. He opened his eyes.
Support timbers lay every which way, as if someone had
dropped a handful of giant wooden matches on the ground.
The archaeologist slowly lifted his gaze higher in order to
take in more of his surroundings. Nothing could have prepared him for what his weary eyes were about to see. It was
too fantastic.
He shook his head again to see if he was dreaming, but
the dull throbbing in one of his partially buried legs told him
he was very much awake. It was no wonder the riches of the
let go and grow happy

temple had never been found … No wonder this great and
ancient mystery had gone unsolved for all of these ages. The
flood of his racing thoughts was interrupted by a burst of his
own uncontrollable laughter. It echoed back at him, as if to
confirm some great joke. Everyone who had ever been there
before him, looters and scientists alike, had all been searching
in the wrong places and looking for the wrong things. The
archaeologist laughed aloud again and arched his neck all the
way back to look straight up.
High above his head, suspended like a star-studded golden
sky, was the great vaulted dome of the temple: a vast dome
made of solid gold inset with jewels of all colors and sizes.
The cave-in he thought was going to take everything from
him had instead revealed the Secret of Secrets: the temple’s
treasure had never been stored in the temple. The real treasure
was the temple itself! And now it belonged to him to enjoy at
his pleasure and to take at his leisure. He silently thanked the
heavens for giving him the courage to let go.
You too possess a priceless secret that awaits your discovery. This is what The Secret of Letting Go is all about.

This Isn’t Letting Go
Merely wanting to let go of an unhappy circumstance or nagging emotional ache is not enough. Wants are desires, and
desires replace one another like bees waiting in line at an
open flower. That is why it is so important for us to deeply
understand what letting go is all about.

let go and grow happy

Let’s start with what we do know—or at least, what we
should know—about letting go. By now we should know
what letting go isn’t. This time-honored approach—discovering what something isn’t in order to come upon what it is—is
a powerful method for coming upon the truth. Great mystics,
philosophers, and scientists of all ages have long understood
the value of arriving at what is true by first revealing and
then eliminating what is false. Let’s follow their wise counsel
and look at letting go in this new way.
1 Letting go isn’t living with heartache-filled dreams

of what might have been.
2 Letting go isn’t the certainty that somebody else

was wrong.
3 Letting go isn’t clinging to the ashes of one

disappointment while basking in the warmth
of some imagined new victory.
4 Letting go isn’t the anxious search for a new solution

to an old problem.
5 Letting go isn’t learning to live with the weight

of lowered expectations.
6 Letting go isn’t the avoidance of people or places

that painfully remind you of past attachments.
7 Letting go isn’t having to convince yourself of how

right you were to let go of something.
8 Letting go isn’t the desperate search to find someone

to agree with you about your side of an argument.

let go and grow happy

9 Letting go isn’t the need to rehearse conversations in

your mind in an attempt to feel confident.
10 Letting go isn’t your insistence that you can let go of

(fill in the blank) anytime you want.
There is one more point to ponder while on our revealing
investigation of what letting go isn’t.
Letting go has nothing in common with self-sacrifice and
the sour or resentful feelings that always seem to accompany
any of our self-designed acts of self-denial. So, in brief review,
we can see that letting go has nothing to do with disciplines,
the external rearrangement of our affairs, or struggling to be
free in our relationships. In fact, letting go has nothing to do
with the release of anything outside of yourself.
We all know exactly what it is like to be certain we have
let go of something sorrowful or worrisome, only to find
ourselves in a similar sad situation moments later. Dropping
this person and picking up that person doesn’t end the loneliness that drives us into dead-end relationships. This isn’t
letting go. We have only managed to put the emptiness on
hold. Changing jobs to get away from someone or something
that sets us off doesn’t cancel our conflict. This just delays the
inevitable angry feelings that always surface whenever we feel
threatened. Our anger cannot keep us safe from an insensitive
world; this anger is the insensitivity itself.

let go and grow happy

The Greatest Secret on Earth
The truth is that letting go is very simple and, above all,
natural; as natural for you and me as it is for a tree to shed
the heavy, sun-ripened fruit that clings to its branches. Why?
Because both man and tree, in fact all living things, are created
to drop what is no longer needed. For the tree, the falling fruit
carries its matured seed to the ground. No unnatural force is
necessary. In a similar fashion—that is to say, under higher but
equally exacting laws—these same friendly forces are waiting
to do for you what you haven’t been able to do for yourself.
You need only learn to cooperate with these powerful and
timeless principles to be able to let go of any emotional bitterness, relentless regret, anxious worry, or troubling thought.
The rest will be done for you.
This is what the secret of letting go is all about. First must
come the understanding that we are still carrying around the
accumulated defeats of a lifetime, and that these weary weights
have only served to make us someone sorry, not someone
special. This initial shock may shake us, but it is really a major
breakthrough. It heralds the first in a series of miraculous selfseparations in which we begin to see that we have been living
from an unseen part of ourselves: a self that thinks clinging to
wreckage is the same as being rescued! Now we understand
why all of our past efforts to let go have only left us holding a
new problem. But now we also know, at last, exactly what it is
that must be dropped. We must let go of this sorry self that is
certain it is better to suffer and feel like someone than it is to

let go and grow happy


just let go and quietly be no one. Have no concerns how this
task will be accomplished. That is reality’s responsibility.
This higher knowledge that is now beginning to reveal
you to yourself is not mental. It is coming to you from a lofty,
wise, and powerful part of yourself that lives way above everyday thinking and its ceaseless conflict over what may or may
not be best. Your newly awakening inner nature knows what
is best for you because it sees life without the painful confusion and contradictions that always accompany compulsive
self-interest. For instance, this higher intelligence knows that
you don’t need to ache, even when you are sure you must.
Once you have made contact with the still, secret self within,
it does the rest. That’s right. It is this higher part of yourself
alone that has the strength and wisdom to gently open your
hand so that out of it may drop all that has been making you
unhappy.
Believe me, you are on the verge of the single greatest discovery any human being can make. The secret of letting go
not only holds the keys for ending what is unwanted, but
locked within this same supreme secret is the beginning of
your new life—the birth of a new nature that never has to
hold on to anything because it is already everything. Dare to
proceed. Let the following special insights speed you on your
way.
1 Letting go of yourself is letting go of your problems,

for they are one and the same.
2 Go along with your longing to be limitless.

let go and grow happy


3 Uncovering what is wrong must always precede

the discovery of what is right.
4 You can only be as free as you are willing to be

truthful about yourself.
5 Letting go is strictly an inside job.
6 There is nothing hidden in the world from you

if you will reveal yourself to yourself.
7 You can live from true intelligence or with

self-insistence.
8 Letting go takes no strength—only a willingness

to see the need for it.
9 You can never act any higher toward a situation

than your understanding of that situation.
10 Once you see a problem, you know the solution.
11 A weakness detected is a weakness rejected.
12 Letting go is the natural release that always follows

the realization that holding on hurts.
13 Unhappiness does not come at you,

it comes from you.
14 Suffering is only something you picked up

by mistake.
15 What you really want is to stop thinking

about yourself.
16 Defeat comes from clinging to solutions

that don’t work.
17 Letting go happens effortlessly once you see

there is no other choice.
let go and grow happy


18 Real freedom is the absence of the self that feels

trapped, not the trappings that self acquires to make it
feel free.
19 Wanting to learn about yourself while limiting your

discoveries to what you want to find is like saying
“I want to see the whole world from my bed.”
20 The only thing you lose when you let go of some-

thing you are afraid to live without is the fear itself.

Be Stronger Than Anything That Frightens You
“I want to be brave when it comes to cutting myself loose
from self-destructive situations, but each time I even get close
to letting go, I get really scared. And when I get scared, I seem
to hold on to everything even tighter! Is there a way to get
past this fear? I loathe the idea that I may be too frightened
to find freedom.”
“Yes. There is a way past this part of yourself that would
rather hold on than get out. However, to really let go of these
fears, we must first go through them.”
“But I have tried overcoming my fears, and fight as I
might, I just can’t seem to break free of their dark and selflimiting influences.”
“That’s because you’re trying to dominate the fear.”
“Well, what else do you do with something that won’t
let go of you? Don’t you have to find a way to be stronger
than it?”

let go and grow happy


“Yes, of course, but fighting with fear is like trying to
deliver a knock-out punch to a scary shadow. All you do is
wear yourself out. To flatten your fears once and for all, you
must forget about the idea of domination and start thinking
about illumination.”
“Illumination? What do you mean?”
“I mean self-illumination: the miracle that happens within us whenever we dare place the wish to understand what
is frightening us before our certainty that there is no other
choice but to feel afraid.”
“I like the sound of what you’re saying, but tell me, how
can what I understand cancel the fear I feel?”
“Because if you dare to go ahead and be just as frightened
as you really are, but at the same time agree to meet these
fears consciously, you will actually see that what is so shaky
is not you!”
“Please—I would like to know more about this new
understanding.”
The seemingly scary condition, whatever it may be, is not
the problem. It is your reaction that is fearful. This is why if
you will become conscious of your condition instead of afraid
of it, you will change forever your relationship with fear. It is
only within this special kind of inner relationship that there
is real safety, because now you are interacting with fear in an
entirely new way. You are no longer letting it dictate to you
how to act or what to do. Instead, you are aware of the fear.
You are learning to quietly observe and study it. And, each
day, as you discover something new about the strange and
let go and grow happy


shaky nature of your own fearful reactions, they begin to lose
their power over you.
Why? Because you are at last seeing them for what they
have always been: unintelligent mechanical forces. You are
slowly becoming stronger than they are, because by seeing
them as they are—not as they would have you see them—
you have helped yourself to climb above and outside of their
influence. This self-insight is the difference between trembling
through your life and being in command of it.
To be consciously afraid means that you know you are
frightened, but at the same time you know that these very
fears, as real as they may seem, are not you. And no wrong
reaction can keep you captive once you begin to see it for
what it is. Fear is, and has always been, nothing but a self-limiting reaction that we cling to in the darkness of our present
life-level, having mistaken it for a shield of self-protection.
But, just as the faintest of early morning sunlight can dispel
the night-long darkness, so does the smallest of insights into a
persistent fear lead to letting it go.
You can prove this powerful principle to yourself anytime
you want. Just dare to proceed even while being afraid. But
remember, your new aim isn’t to be courageous or to try and
act strong in the face of fear. No. We’ve seen that this won’t
work.You simply want to be more curious about your frightened thoughts and feelings than you want to believe in them.
If you will follow this simple but higher instruction, not only
will you start to see these habitual reactions that have been
keeping you scared and running, you’ll actually start seeing
let go and grow happy


through them. This is where the real miracle occurs. Each
new insight into the actual nature of these negative reactions
removes some of their power over you. And their loss is your
gain. You are stronger now, and you know it. You also know
this new strength will never fail you because it isn’t just the
temporary appearance of a bold opposite. This new strength
of yours is the absence of an old weakness.
Let’s look at just one of the ways in which this principle
of putting self-illumination before psychological self-protection can turn fear into fearlessness. Do you know someone
whom you would rather run from than run into? Most of us
do! Nevertheless, starting right now, resolve never again to
avoid any person that scares you. In fact, go ahead and walk
right up to that critical man or aggressive woman and say or
do exactly what you want instead of letting the fear tell you
to do what it wants. Have no ideas at all about the way things
should or shouldn’t go. You are there to watch and learn
about yourself, not to win an ego victory. Let that person see
you shake if that is what starts to happen. What do you care?
Besides, it is only temporary. That unpleasant person before
you can’t know it, but you are shaking yourself awake.
For the first time, you are letting your reactions roll by
instead of letting them carry you away. As you stand there,
momentarily apart from your usual self and working hard to
remain as inwardly watchful as you know how, you can see
that this flood of previously unconscious reactions has its own
life story—a shaky sort of story that up until now you had
embraced as your own. But now you are beginning to see
let go and grow happy


the whole story. The fears do not belong to you. Here is the
explanation.
You have never been afraid of another person. The only
thing you have ever been frightened by is your own thoughts
about that person.Yes, you did feel fear, but it wasn’t yours and
it wasn’t toward someone stronger than you. The fear you felt
was in what you thought he or she was thinking about you.
Amazing, isn’t it? You have been afraid of your own thoughts!
And seeing this ends this. Now you can let this thought-self
go, because no one willingly holds on to terror.

The Sure Way to Raise Your Life-Level
As we will eventually come to see, almost every kind of
unhappy feeling is the result of mistaking the partial for the
whole. What this means is that when we don’t see the whole
picture, we are likely to act in a way that is self-defeating. One
example of this would be that terrible sinking feeling that
comes with learning too late, after you’ve become upset, that
things weren’t the way you were so sure they had been. That,
in fact, it was you who had misjudged or misunderstood the
person or event, and now that you can see the whole situation, there is no reason at all to be angry or sad, anxious or
afraid. How many times have we regretted some thoughtless
action on our part once we found out all of the facts? This is
what we must do: gather all of the facts. I promise you that
everything can be explained. Nothing that happens to you or
through you need ever go without you understanding why.

let go and grow happy


You can be self-enlightened instead of self-frightened. You
have a choice. This discovery that you can always choose in
favor of yourself is real excitement.
You do not have to accept your present life-level.Your lifelevel is what determines whether you sail through this life or
sink in it. At present, it may seem to you as if there are times
when you don’t have much choice in your own life. I want
you to know that this is a lie. This temporary feeling of being
trapped is part of your current life-level, where you sincerely
feel as though your choices are limited. Again, I want you to
know this is simply not true. There is always a choice.
The problem is that most of us insist on our choices, so it’s
vital we see the following: our present experience of life has
been determined by the choices that we have already made.
Why go back to the same field of choices? We already suspect that it will yield no real harvest of happiness, and now
we must confirm this suspicion. Nothing bad will happen! In
fact, only something good can occur once we stop clinging
to useless ideas.
You could say that your new choice is to stop choosing
for yourself from yourself. This is the first necessary step for
changing your life-level. Here is something to help you see
the wisdom of your new and higher choice.
If your choices so far have left you feeling dissatisfied and
incomplete, you must stop blaming your selections and see
that the problem lies with the chooser—you ! You and what
happens to you every day are the reflections of your life-lev-

let go and grow happy


el. We are wrongly led to believe that life makes us into the
kind of person we are. The truth is that the kind of person
we are—our life-level—makes life what it is for us! This is
why nothing can really change for us until we see that our
unhappiness isn’t connected with the event, it is the level of it
that we choose to experience. Let’s look at this a little more
deeply.
We believe that we meet events and that those events are
good or bad, pleasurable or punishing. In other words, our
feelings are the reflections of what happens to us moment
to moment. That’s why, while acting from our current lifelevel, our first choice whenever we feel distressed is always
to try and change the condition we blame for making us feel
that way—the belief being that by changing our unhappy
surroundings, we will bring an end to our unhappiness. This
has never really worked, and it never really will, because the
unpleasant or unhappy condition was not the event but our reaction
to it.
What does this new knowledge mean to you? Everything!
It means:
1 You can let go of those resentful feelings toward your

job, because the treadmill isn’t what you are doing
but the way you are thinking.
2 You can let go of trying to change other people,

because you are what is bothering you about them.
3 You can let go of the fear of unforeseen changes or

challenges, because all you really ever have to face in
any challenging moment is yourself.
let go and grow happy


Best of all, you can let go of the impossible and unbelievably self-punishing task of thinking that you are responsible
for the way the world turns. The only world you are responsible for is your inner world: the world of your thoughts and
feelings, impulses and desires. Your life-level is determined
by how clearly you can see into this inner world. This new
kind of seeing is safety and ultimately the root of all selfsuccess, because when you know where not to step, your
walk through life is a safe and happy one.
You wouldn’t go over to your neighbor’s kitchen to fix
your broken sink. Why try and change your outer world when
it is only a reflection of your inner life? Do not try to change
the external world. Change your own attitudes and viewpoints. When you change yourself, you change the world as
far as you are concerned, for you are your own world. Here is
a simple way to say all of this: the inner determines the outer.
This is not as difficult to understand as it may appear
at first. Let’s take an example. If a person writing a letter
misspells a word, the error starts in his mind, after which it
appears on paper. He cannot possibly correct the paper until
his mind is corrected first. If he does not clarify his mind, the
error must repeat itself on paper endlessly. No doubt you see
the parallel here with human problems. People try to correct
exterior mistakes instead of correcting the way they think,
which leaves them lost, because unknowingly they are still
chained to a mistake-making machine. That is why it is so
important to understand this lesson. Your discontentment
with life is with your understanding—your life-level—not
let go and grow happy


with what your understanding has brought to you. Trying
to change your life without first changing your life-level is
like trying to convince yourself that a merry-go-round has
a destination. If you are tired of going around and around,
remember that you can get off whenever you choose.
Truthful principles such as these are here to assist you in
making this higher choice by helping you to increase your
self-understanding. This elevated understanding in turn raises
your life-level. As you raise your life-level, you will see that
you have effortlessly raised the way in which you react to
every event. Then the whole world begins to slow down for
you because you now understand that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t this life that
was making you dizzy, it was your thinking.

Go Ahead and Let Go of Yourself
Any human being who has to hold himself together is someone who is ready to fall apart.Trying to hold yourself together
is a terrible way to go through life. Our task now is to prove
this to ourselves.The fear of falling apart can never be quieted
by adding more pieces to your self, such as success or the
hope of success. With this approach to life, you wear out faster, because you now have even more conditions you believe
you must control in order to keep your life together. Consider
closely the following higher insight. It reveals the intelligence
behind your wish to let go.
Anything that you have to control, controls you. The problem with self-control is that it is part of a war inside of you.

let go and grow happy
ď&#x153;˛ď&#x153;ą

No one ever wins in a war! Let’s look at this same idea again
from a slightly different perspective. Whenever an uncertain situation arises, the mind works feverishly to resolve it
in order to regain a sense of being in control. However, the
more feverishly the mind works, the more out of control you
become! You can see this for yourself. Anything that is afraid
of losing control is already out of control: an accident waiting to happen. There is more, and we must see it all if we are
ever going to rise above our present life-level to true selfcertainty.
Whenever we picture ourselves, there is one image that
rarely, if ever, enters into our mental movie: that of being
someone who is ready to fall apart. But again, few of us see
ourselves in any self-compromising light at all. We feel safe
within the dimly lit theater of our own circle-of-self pictures,
and we return to it often—especially when the harsh light
of reality starts to break through and show us that we may
not be as together as we’d like to think. This is why we need
the truth in our lives. The truth is what allows us to see reality without being frightened about what we see. Part of the
truth’s rescuing action is to reveal to us that we are not apart
from what we see. From this unique, inner vantage point, the
light of reality isn’t harsh—it’s Home. The more of this light
we can welcome into our circle-of-self and its cast of 1,001
self-images, the easier it becomes to let go. Why? Because we
aren’t losing anything except for what has been keeping us in
the darkness.

let go and grow happy


If we are honest, we realize that our lives seem to grow
smaller as we grow older. We have fewer friends, fewer activities; we take fewer and fewer risks. But why? Why should
a person’s possibilities for new and stimulating impressions
diminish with their age? Why, if we are continuing to develop and grow as we should be, shouldn’t we be looking for
greater and greater personal challenges instead of avoiding
them? Could this slowly constricting life of ours be the
result of an unconscious urge on our part to avoid any situation or relationship that might toss the proverbial straw onto
the camel’s back of our picture of ourselves?
“I can see the logic of what you are saying, but as you said,
I don’t think this applies to me.”
“Are you willing to see if it does?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Do you ever get angry or anxious?”
“Yes, I do, but what does that have to do with falling
apart?”
“Let’s see. What makes you angry or anxious?”
“When things don’t go the way I want them to.”
“In other words, you’ve pictured how things should be,
and when life doesn’t confirm these pictures, you get negative
in one way or another.”
“Yes, that about describes it. What are you getting at?”
“Let’s work together at this.You said that when life doesn’t
confirm your self-pictures—your hope of future security, love
in relationships, or whatever it is—then some kind of stress

let go and grow happy


or unhappiness comes up as these pictures of yours begin to
fall apart?”
“Please go on.”
“This shows us that within your present way of thinking, you believe your future happiness actually depends upon
these pictures. This is why, as your pictures begin to crumble,
so do you!”
“Yes, but why do I get angry or anxious?”
“Because these punishing emotions are part of a subtle
system of self-subterfuge that accomplishes two dark things at
once: it keeps the problem alive and, at the same time, it keeps
the real solution out of sight.”
“What is the problem?”
“Essentially, it is a lack of understanding about your true
nature. You are about to discover that you are not who you
think you are. No matter how attractive or repulsive, you are
not any picture you may be holding of yourself.”
“And what is the real solution?”
“Go ahead and let yourself fall apart!”
“What? That’s going to take some explanation!”
“And there is one if you will go through the experience;
but for now, here is the intelligence behind this unexpected
answer: you are not what will fall apart. Who you are can never
fall apart. What will collapse is the haunted house of selfflattering and security-seeking pictures you had mistakenly
identified as a solution to your shaky life. These pictures are
not the solution to your shakiness, they are the source of it.”

let go and grow happy


The Secret of Effortless Happiness
Have you ever noticed just how unhappy you can get over
the fact that you are not happy? Unexamined, this behavior
seems to make sense. But a closer look at it will reveal that
being unhappy over being unhappy is like throwing gasoline
on a fire to put it out. You get lots of fire and smoke—even
a strange excitement—but in the end, all you are left with
is ashes. This is why you must understand this next amazing
fact.
You can make yourself miserable, but you can’t make yourself happy.
This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Even now we
are learning that we have been unconscious conspirators in
our own unhappy lives. Even if it wasn’t being pointed out,
most of us can admit that at times we do make ourselves miserable. But there is nothing good about feeling bad. There is
never a justification for tolerating self-misery, because what
is self-induced can be self-reduced and ultimately eliminated
if we are willing to understand the underlying causes. This is
why we must look at why it is impossible to make ourselves
happy if we ever want to come upon authentic happiness.
Outside of drugs and alcohol, which are obviously not the
way to happiness, whenever you want to make yourself happy,
you must put forth an effort of some kind. Effort implies the
application of force in a specific direction. We can see that
this is good and necessary in following preconceived plans
for construction projects, business concerns, or cooking, for
example.You can also make an effort to imagine or visualize
let go and grow happy


new shapes and ideas to help in the creative process. But
when it comes to being happy, any effort is the wrong one.
Let’s see if this is true. If it is, then we are on the verge of an
even higher discovery: real happiness is effortless. Let’s find
out more about this new possibility.
As we described, where there is an effort, there is, whether known or not, always a plan. All plans by definition are
to build something; in this instance, your plans are to build
happiness. With this preconceived plan, this picture of happiness firmly fixed in your mind, you meet each of life’s events
looking for your picture instead of experiencing what life has
brought to you. This painful and stress-producing process of
comparison goes on unknowingly, and it ruins everything it
touches. Life becomes a series of disappointments, instead of
a series of happy adventures. Please ponder this next point:
you could never be unhappy with anything you found in this
life if you didn’t already have it fixed in your mind what you
were looking for.
Hopefully, we can learn from this that our ideas about happiness are more often than not the very root of our unhappiness. The point is that happiness isn’t something that can be made.
It isn’t the result of anything. Happiness comes to those who
understand that you can’t seek it any more than you seek the
air you breathe. It is a part of life to be found within living. The excitement of anticipation isn’t happiness any more
than smelling freshly baked bread nourishes a hungry body.

let go and grow happy


All pursuit of happiness is based upon the false assumption
that there is a way to possess it; you may as well try to grab
a handful of breeze! Happiness is the natural expression of a
stress-free life, just as sunlight naturally warms the earth after
dark clouds disappear.

Ten Steps to Take
to the Truly New Life
The difference between being in true self-command and
merely appearing that way is the difference between gently
floating downstream and being swept away in waves of selfdoubt. Higher ideas such as these lead to the truly new life.
Take them all the way to yourself.
1 Study the situation by entering into it.
2 Be in charge, not in conflict.
3 Realize the need for self-correction.
4 Go conscious, not crazy.
5 Face fear’s full bluff.
6 See that your reactions are not reality.
7 Be self-enlightened, not self-frightened.
8 Don’t feel yourself, be yourself.
9 Self-rescue without self-revelation is self-deception.
10 Happiness is letting go of your ideas about happiness.